Picks and Pans Review: Just Like a Woman

Pasdar is a handsome young American banker in London, about to broker the biggest deal of his life. When his domestic affairs go awry, he finds sanctuary in a rooming house owned by the recently divorced Walters (in a characteristically terrific performance). Despite a considerable age difference, the two are immediately drawn to each other. But there's this problem: both like to wear the same kind of underwear, and we're not talking Jockey. Pasdar, though a devout heterosexual, is a cross-dresser (one of the movie's best scenes shows his transformation from banker to be-rouged babe). Walters, though shocked, is undeniably intrigued, begging to join Pasdar on his nocturnal rounds, ultimately falling in love with him. The feeling is returned.

Now, if only things were going as well at the office. Pasdar and his partner (Gordon Kennedy) grow suspicious that their boorish boss (Paul Freeman) is up to no good. But just when they have enough evidence to expose the lout, Pasdar is arrested for speeding while in lipstick and heels. He's out of a job and in a funk until Walters and Kennedy devise a plan. Just Like a Woman handles cross-dressing with great good humor. At one point, Walters, having encouraged Pasdar to go out as a woman during the day, looks askance at his ensemble. They're just going shopping, she says. "But all I have," says an aggrieved Pasdar, "is evening wear." (No rating)